Filly's run pleases Reynolds

EmailOZONE PARK, N.Y. - While Indian Blessing was certainly impressive winning last Saturday's Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies, trainer Patrick Reynolds couldn't have been any happier with Backseat Rhythm's third-place finish in that race.

Backseat Rhythm stumbled badly at the start and was last through the early stages of the Juvenile Fillies. While Indian Blessing cruised on the lead, Backseat Rhythm rallied to get into second position in upper stretch, before settling for third, four lengths behind the winner and a half-length behind Proud Spell.

"She stumbled and her legs went out from under her," Reynolds said. "She showed a lot of class to come from where she came from to photo for second money. It was a very, very good effort. All in all, I was very pleased with the race."

Backseat Rhythm was coming off a second-place finish to Indian Blessing in the Frizette three weeks earlier. Though she has had three races in a relatively short period of time, Backseat Rhythm could return in the $200,000 Demoiselle at Aqueduct on Nov. 24.

"We're going to nominate," Reynolds said. "It never hurts to put yourself in position to win. [Owner Paul Pompa] and I will talk about it as we go along. The Demoiselle is definitely not out of the question."

Reynolds said Backseat Rhythm came out of the race well and was set to start jogging on Friday.

Reynolds said he has started only two 2-year-olds this year. The other one, Big Brown, won his debut at Saratoga on turf and was subsequently sold to the International Equine Associations Holdings Stable and trainer Richard Dutrow Jr.

"I'm batting 1,000 with the babies," Reynolds said.

C P West wins; 1 of 5 for Velasquez

C P West ended 13 months of frustration Thursday with a good-looking 1 1/2-length victory in the $78,700 Wild Again Stakes at one mile. After facing pressure from a run-off Saratoga Lullaby, who forced C P West to run a half-mile in 46.68 seconds, C P West put away all challengers in upper stretch and won fairly handily despite drifting out late. Buffalo Man, making his first start since Feb. 12, put in a nice run to be second, a neck in front of Giant Deputy.

C P West, trained by Nick Zito, covered one mile in 1:34.41 under Cornelio Velasquez, who won five races on Thursday's card. Velasquez joined Eibar Coa, Kent Desormeaux, and Ramon Dominguez (twice) as riders to have won five races on a single NYRA card this year.

It was C P West's first victory since he won his career debut at Saratoga on Aug. 12, 2006. In the interim, he competed in seven graded stakes, finishing second in the Grade 2 Futurity at Belmont and the Grade 2 Jim Dandy to Street Sense at Saratoga. Thursday's race was his first since finishing fifth to Street Sense in the Travers.

"He hadn't run in a while," owner Robert LaPenta said. "We wanted him to win a race. He deserved to win a race.

"He had nothing but hard, hard races. . . . Nick said he's doing good, so let's give him a race before we put him away for his 4-year-old campaign. We're hoping he has a good year next year."

LaPenta said C P West would likely ship to Zito's Churchill Downs barn before heading to Florida to prepare for his 4-year-old campaign.

Pictavia out of Long Island with injury

An injury to a front leg forced Pictavia to miss Saturday's Grade 3, $150,000 Long Island Handicap, and the Godolphin Racing-owned filly may be retired, assistant trainer Rick Mettee said Thursday.

Mettee said the injury wasn't that serious, but "it's enough to force her to miss this race."

Mettee said the Long Island was to have been Pictavia's last race, so more than likely she will be retired.

Pictavia, a 5-year-old Irish-bred daughter of Sinndar, won 5 of 21 starts, including the Group 3 Select Stakes at Goodwood in 2006. This year, her lone victory from four starts came in the Drumtop, an overnight stakes at Belmont on July 22.

Sugar Shake heads Turnback the Alarm

Sugar Shake, winner of the Grade 1 Santa Maria in February at Santa Anita, heads a field of six expected to contest the 1 1/8 miles of Sunday's Grade 3, $100,000 Turnback the Alarm Handicap.

Sugar Shake, trained by Bobby Frankel, will be dropping in company after finishing fourth in the Personal Ensign at Saratoga and the Spinster at Keeneland, both Grade 1 events.

Sir Whimsey, a 3-year-old who placed in two stakes races here last winter, is working toward a return to the races with a new trainer, Jimmy Toner. Sir Whimsey, second in the Whirlaway and third in the Count Fleet over the inner track, worked five furlongs in 1:00.50 on Thursday over Belmont's main track.

Sir Whimsey, previously trained by Michael Miceli, has not raced since finishing fifth in the Grade 2 Peter Pan Stakes at Belmont in May.

"He ran hard all winter, I thought he needed a freshening up, so we sent him to South Carolina for the summer," Toner said. "I'd like to get a race into him before the end of the month."

Sir Whimsey, a son of Jump Start, is one of a handful of horses Toner was given by owner Harvey Weinstein, who races under the name Turtle Bird Stable. Darjeeling, a 3-year-old daughter of Cat Thief, is another, and that horse has won two consecutive races for Toner. Darjeeling is being pointed to an overnight stakes here Nov. 10.

"It was a good outfit to pick up," Toner said. "So far, so good."

Toner said that with Turtle Bird Stable in the fold, he will likely leave a handful of horses in New York during the winter.

Four winning tickets sold for pick six

Four winning tickets were sold on Thursday's pick six, each returning $164,081. There was a three-day carryover of $243,011 entering the day, and another $734,837 was wagered into the pool Thursday. All four winning tickets were sold offtrack.

The four winners had to survive a stewards' inquiry into the stretch run of the last race when Herb McCauley stood up on Mighty Thor in deep stretch as Youbethecan, under Velasquez, passed him late. The stewards put up the inquiry sign but took no action.